Small Towns Never Change
by Esprit D'escalier
Summary: Jill, a mute girl, visits the small valley where her father lived until his recent death. With nothing but negative thoughts in mind, she ends up making an unlikely friendship with a local musician and a farmer.


This turned out harder than I expected. At first I was writing it, and it was just going so smoothly and easily, and then… it just kind of turned hard all of a sudden. I hope that doesn't reflect too much in the writing.

This was done as a challenge for The Village Square Writing Game. Go check it out if you want challenges! Seriously, we need more people.

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><p>Originally, she had only meant to stop by; but time had passed by without her notice. She was supposed to be here temporarily, only long enough to deal with this farm; whether that meant selling it, abandoning it, or destroying it, she didn't care. So far, it seemed the most likely option was that she was going to give the farm to the old man who lived there. She was in no desperate need for money, and she had no knowledge or interest in farming. She had never even been on a real farm in her life. She'd only come here due to word of the parting of her father.<p>

A father who had parted once before because he couldn't be bothered to take the time to learn how to communicate with his own daughter.

She was, after all, a mute. He'd have to learn almost an entire new language to be able to hear her words. It was a language that no one in this small town of Forget-Me-Not Valley knew. It made things inconvenient, though she had expected it would be like this. She had come armed with a notepad, as she knew that there would be a lot to sort out. She had yet to communicate to any of the townsfolk besides Takakura, but she was sure by this point in time they had all surely heard of the girl who couldn't speak. That's what it was like in small towns.

It was the reason her and her mother had moved out of the small town where she was born. No one could communicate with her on her level, and no one was willing to learn, yet they talked about her as if they knew her. She didn't have any friends her age. After all, what kid the age of four knew sign language or wanted to read written messages? But that's just how townspeople were. They weren't open to change.

At the city, she was able to find people that were capable of communicating with her in way that she was comfortable with. She didn't have to write notes every time she wanted to say something. And she was just another ant in the hill; people didn't know who she was and when they found out she was a mute it wasn't a huge occurrence.

There was no point in thinking completely negatively though. She was only here for a short visit, and she likely would just avoid talking to the villagers at all. That was no reason to stay cooped up inside her room all day though. She was only here for another few days she estimated, so she may as well see the town that her father had loved so much to choose over her.

Jill walked off of the property that now legally belonged to her. On her way to what appeared to be the beach she saw a man sitting against a tree, strumming a guitar. She could faintly hear words and a tune coming out of his mouth, but what caught her attention more was how he looked. His outfit was more than just a bit bizarre. The clash of the orange and green made him look a bit like a mango, or perhaps a carrot. The flower on the top of his head appeared to be… real. Above all though, the fact that he was out here singing to no one seemed rather odd to her. Plus, the glasses he was wearing made her unable to see where he was even looking, but his face was pointing upwards at the sky, and she could only imagine he was looking at the clouds. She looked up too, and found the sky to be completely empty. Or perhaps he was just a bit weird…

The girl glanced over to the man again, who had gently leaned the guitar up on the tree beside him, apparently having finished singing his song. He was no longer looking up at the sky, that was for sure, but it was hard to tell where he was looking when she couldn't see his eyes. However, his huge nose was directly facing her way.

He waved over to her, and gestured for her to come over to where he was sitting. She looked behind her quickly to make sure he wasn't looking at someone else. It was hard to tell with the glasses. She found no one, and inwardly sighed. She did not want any confrontation, but she couldn't just walk by, so she found herself heading close.

"Hey, how'd you like to hear a song?"

Jill looked down at the man, unsure of what to do. She didn't like it when street performers called out to her. In the city it was easy to pretend you couldn't hear them as there were many people, but here, where it was only her, she felt like she was obliged to give him a few bucks. She couldn't just leave when he was staring right at her…

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few loose coins. She hoped he didn't ask for more…

Surprisingly though, when she reached her hands out to him and he saw the contents he laughed. "I'm not looking for money, sister. Just thought maybe you'd enjoy hearing a tune." Jill stared for a second, a bit confused. Then she sat down against the tree beside him, deciding to take him up on his offer. No point in passing up a free show, even if he was kind of weird.

He sang about simple things, such as nature, beauty, and love. Though Jill had never had much of a taste in country music, somehow it suited the pure atmosphere of this valley. And she thought that maybe, this place wasn't so bad after all.

As the afternoon sky started to fade into evening, Jill decided to go back to her home. It had been a nice distraction for the day.

The next day she found him out by the tree again, singing the same songs he had sung the day before. This time he wasn't alone though. A girl with long brown hair and a green dress was sitting down next to him, and in front of them sat a blanket full of fresh fruit.

She wondered if she was intruding by going over to them, but as she approached she found the girl to be smiling gently at her. When she arrived, Celia was quick to introduce herself, and at the same time she found out the man's name – Gustafa. It had completely slipped her mind that she didn't know it. She introduced herself as well, writing her name down on a notepad she carried with her. Neither of them seemed surprised to see her do so, evidence that word of her arrival had spread through the town.

Surprisingly, she wasn't annoyed by this knowledge though. Somehow having met people who just accepted her without questions made up for the gossip having been spread about her.

The three sat down and had lunch together, and the other two talked and included her in as much as possible, and Jill found herself laughing along with the conversation. Surprisingly, she didn't feel all that left out, and was rather enjoying herself. Perhaps she had been wrong. Townspeople weren't different after all… they could be just as open to new concepts.

Afterwards, Gustafa took up his guitar again. But this time, he didn't sing alone. A female voice harmonized with his, adding even more to his song. It made the song sound complete, and more beautiful than it had the first time. Somehow, Jill found wishing she could be the one singing with him and she wondered if that was the only way that Celia helped complete him.

Days passed, and eventually weeks as well, and Jill still had not left the valley. Her excuse was that she still had a lot of sorting and paperwork to do, and the truth was she did, but she paid little attention to it. Instead she found herself visiting Gustafa every day, and eating lunch with him and Celia when she brought home made meals over.

Celia even helped Jill to plant some vegetables in her fields, so that Jill could grow some food for herself. During that time, Celia discussed aspects of her life; including how she had met Gustafa. Apparently she was possibly going to be in an arranged marriage with another man, and it was when she was upset and crying by the river that Gustafa had come over and sung her a song. They had been meeting up ever since. Jill smiled faintly, thinking about how obvious it was to see that the girl was fond of him.

And over time, Jill questioned if she felt the same.

However, she knew that she could never compete. His biggest joy in life was to sing in beat with the rhythms of his heart… His love belonged to music alone, and if she could never sing, she would never be able to join him in that endeavour. Still, she thought that maybe there was a chance for her.

A week later though she changed her mind, when the two of them made an announcement - marriage. No dating, no long period of engagement, just… marriage. Just like that.

Jill reminded herself that was how it was in small towns. The people here were different, and that would never change.

Jill remained in the town for another few days. Instead of going outside to enjoy a picnic, she stayed indoors and finally finished all the paperwork that she had left. Then she sifted through her father's belongings, and packed.

When it finally came time for Jill to leave the valley, she left without having told him anything of how she felt. She just wished the couple a happy life, and left the village within the day. It wasn't her place to enter in on someone else's territory, especially when he would be happier off with someone else.

As for the farm, she left it in Takakura's hands. She made sure to inform him of the seeds that Celia had helped plant in the back. She had no use for any of it.

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><p>If you're not in a hurry, feel free to leave a review. I appreciate them.<p> 


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